The Jeter Milestone

Sorry for the low amount of posting lately, but work has kept me pretty busy and I haven’t had much to write about lately. I do want to focus today’s post on Derek Jeter as he is quickly approaching the 3000 hit mark.

As a life-long Yankees fan it has been a long road for Jeter in becoming a 3000 hit player. Although I am glad to see him do it in a Yankees uniform, to say that I felt the signing was a good thing for the Yankees would be a lie. Of course it couldn’t have gone any other way, that is to say that signing Jeter last offseason was a must.

Sure they are paying for past performance and they knew this was going to be an albatross of a contract to deal with through it’s entirety, but Jeter becoming the first Yankee with 3000 hits means something to most Yankee fans. Even with the big contract and the C on his chest, he is still a shell of him former self both offensively and defensively.

Since his late season call up in 1995 until 2009 he was not only a Yankee fan favorite but also a hit machine. However last year and this year have been a different story all together. He hasn’t hit 0.300 in a year and a half and this season he is on pace for career lows in hits and batting average. As a 37 year old, his quickness has diminished and at some point, towards the end of his contract, we could see him step away from the game.

Even before the 3000 hits Jeter was a Hall of Famer. The 3000 hits just cement it. There are a lot of Jeter haters, who feel that with his low power numbers and mediocre stolen base numbers, that he is not a lock for the Hall of Fame, also there is the “Yankee Factor”, if he had played his career anywhere else he wouldn’t have been a Hall of Famer.

Personally I think this is crazy because there have been so many players who did well elsewhere but not New York. Jeter has flourished as a Yankee and New Yorker since being called up in 1995. As for his autograph and cards, they have always been at a premium. His autographed cards going for between $300-$800 (as dictated by Stiener Sports Collectibles). His rookie cards running anywhere from $3 to $50 (for the Upper Deck SP card shown below), and even more for graded cards.

In short, Jeter has had a great career. Unfortunately his skills are greatly diminished and at some point sooner rather than later he will be forced to step away from the game. That will be a very sad day for the Yankees and it’s fan base when the time comes.